That day, at an event in Florida, Trump invited the Russian state to search for the approximately 30,000 emails that Clinton was found to have deleted from her private server on the grounds that they were not related to government work.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Trump knew. He likes to brag. That was him bragging. He knew Putin was watching. He was playing to his audience of one. Trump thought he had a secret and he couldn't stop himself from bragging about it.

1. This should have started the FBI investigation, but it didn't

They sat on it until after the election, after the inauguration, and after Cheeto fired Comey. It was fully 8 months later, after "Russia if you're listening...". THAT's when they decided he must be a Russian agent, and they started a quiet investigation.

14. Tick tock....

At the very least, I think evidence was being collected long before a formal investigation was launched.

It’s entirely possible that they had more than one investigation into 45’s dubious behavior. He certainly did not lead a very law-abiding life before running for office.

We are just now hearing about the investigation launched after 45 fired Comey, but that doesn’t eliminate the possibility of earlier investigations. It also doesn’t mean that other investigations are not being done right now, under the radar (and possibly without the knowledge of the people 45 installed as agency directors).

I think we are going to hear a small amount of new (to the public) information each week. A steady “drip, drip” sort of thing, at least for a while. The floodgates will open when the time is right.